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Product Description
Maxed Out takes viewers on a journey deep inside the American style of debt where things seem fine as long as the minimum monthly payment arrives on time. Shocking and incisive Maxed Out paints a picture of a national nightmare which is all too real for most of us.Runtime: 87 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 876964000864 Manufacturer No: 10086
Amazon.com
In Maxed Out, author/director James D. Scurlock (Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders) takes on America's debt crisis. Consequently, he touches on related issues like race, corporate malfeasance, and political subterfuge. Scurlock’s multi-media approach incorporates statistics, news excerpts, and interviews, but it's rarely dull (comedy bits from Louis CK and tunes from Queen and Coldplay don't hurt). Speakers include economic professors, debt collectors, pawn brokers, investigative reporters, beleaguered consumers, and even Robin Leach (Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous). Instead of New York and Los Angeles, he concentrates on mid-size cities, like Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, and Seattle. Plenty of small towns also come into play. Though he never presses the point himself, Scurlock allows his subjects to note the similarities between the credit industry and the drug trade (others use such incendiary terms as "rape"). One thing he neglects to mention, however, is pride. If house payments are ruining your life, selling that property may be the only solution. In most cases, however, it's hard not to feel for those individuals who didn't know what they were getting into before they signed their lives away. For some viewers, this will be a dispiriting documentary--three subjects recount the suicides of relatives who found their debt too much to bear--but in explaining exactly how lenders and creditors make money, Maxed Out can help others to avoid some of their most egregious practices. In other words, debt may be a downer, but knowledge is power. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Horrible, 2008-12-04
Nothing new here. I could not finish this one. Synopsis: Credit card companies are evil. The consumer is not at fault. We have no control over our credit cards.
There was absolutely no substance to this movie. A few interviews of people with debt, and a boring Harvard professor.
I was looking for a more detailed analysis of the workings of credit card companies and the growing household debts across the country. Instead, the movie chose to focus on a select few people, with rather mundane stories. The people interviewed were simply boring. The title is MAXED OUT, interview some people with some MAXED OUT stories.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 Til Debt Do You Part, 2008-11-28
I can think of no better day than today to review this excellent documentary. You see, today is the day after Thanksgiving 2008; what many call "Black Friday." It is the day many of us sink further into debt buying crap our friends and family probably don't need nor want. Couple that with a destabilizing economy and you've got serious issues to think about. The question we need to ask ourselves is "why?" Why do we feel the need to spend more than we make (or may ever make)?
The tough answer is here in MAXED OUT, writer/director James D. Scurlock's first feature length documentary.
I think many of us know the answer but simply refuse to acknowledge it: we want to keep up with the Jones'. They have a new car, we need a new car. They have a new washer/dryer, we need a new one. It is a cycle being perpetuated by the credit industry and we, the consumers, have been drawn to it like moths to a flamethrower.
Maxed Out gives us insights that should make one angry and fearful. Predatory lenders like MBNA, Capitol One, and other credit card companies target those that are least likely to be able to afford credit. Why? Because these are the people who max out their cards then pay the minimum monthly amounts until ...either bankrupt or death do them part. It's a marriage made in Hell and it continues to this day. College students who enter a new campus are likely to find tables set up near their dorms offering sign ups for new credit cards. Why? Again, because they can't afford it (sadly these are the people who end up in the worst situations, often dangling from their necks in dorm room closets).
Add to this fact that we are now in the worst financial/debt crisis in U.S. history (end of 2008) and is there any wonder why? George Bush and his buddies at MBNA passed a new law that puts tighter restrictions on filing for bankruptcy, making those who really need assistance the least likely to get it (but it's okay to spend 700 billion taxpayer dollars to bail out banks that caused this debacle). Heinous. And do the credit card companies have to answer to anyone? Morally or ethically? Not that I've seen.
This is a documentary well worth your while. And at a quick 89 minutes, it won't eat up a lot of your precious time ...like those credit card bills will.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
You'll never want to use a credit card again!, 2008-10-22
I was shocked, appalled, but enlightened after seeing this video.
EVERY consumer who uses credit products should see this film. It's socially irresponsible not too!
We have been duped! We've been taken for a ride and are paying a high cost for it.
The credit cards are now cut up and they will never be used again!
You have to see this! That's all I can say. You will never view a piece of plastic the same way again!
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
For such a time as this, 2008-10-08
At time when our country is in crises because of lenders making NINJA Loans (No Income. No Job. No Assets), there is not a better time for people to buy and watch Maxed Out. Maxed Out paints a sobering picture of credit practices that ruin people's lives. Although Maxed Out accurately explains that borrowers cannot depend on lenders to advise them in setting proper limits on borrowing, it does not place enough emphasis on the individual's responsibility for his own actions. William Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet, Neither a borrower nor lender be." Maxed Out explains why Shakespeare's advice is so sound for us today.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 A bit one sided, 2008-10-07
Saw this movie last night. While it was enjoyable (I really like the documentary style of story telling), I did find the personal responsiblity side overlooked. Then at the very end, it read ...in association with ACORN, or something like that. This is the same group that pressured congress into the whole Freddy Mac/Fannie May fiasco that we're dealing with now. The same group who almost got BILLIONS of dollars in this crazy bailout that our grandchildren will still have to pay. Thanks to those in congress who took that handout away from ACORN. They are B. Obamas biggest contributor (and why not, he was once their lawyer). They are involved in voter fraud galore, and many in their organization have gone to jail. As with everything else, buyer beware. Just quit asking your fellow citizens to bail you out when you make a bad decision.
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